Christmas carol book tag

It’s only five sleeps till Christmas people. Seriously, I say this every year, but how the hell did it get to be the silly season already? It feels like mere hours ago that I was eating cream eggs. Anyhoo – I saw this Christmassy tag on Bec’s awesome blog the other day, and thought I’d get in on the action.

You’re a Mean One, Mr. Grinch: Name a villainous character you can’t help but love to hate.Villain is a pretty strong word, but I do love to hate Mr Collins from Pride and Prejudice – he is self-righteous and completely annoying, but also ridiculous to the point of hilarious.

All I Want For Christmas Is You: What book do you most want to find under your Christmas tree this year?As if there is only one answer to this question – I want all of the books. But, if I have to be more specific, I’d say Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel or The Book of Strange New Things by Michel Faber.

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer: Name a favourite character that had to overcome a major obstacle. Why are they your favourite?Jo March – she overcame poverty (and a horrible little sister) like the true champ that she is.

Santa Claus Is Coming To Town: Which characters do you think are at the top of Santa’s “nice” and “naughty” list?In the interests of self-preservation, I like to think Santa loves us all equally, and keeps no such lists 😉

Frosty the Snowman: What book just melts your heart?The Fault in Our Stars had me reaching for the tissues numerous times. I also cried a LOT, and when I say cried I mean sobbed, in Purple Hibiscus by Chimamanda Ngozie Adiche, and Little Women warms the cockles of me ‘art cos it’s just so damn innocent and wholesome.

Feliz Navidad: Your favourite book that takes place in a country other than your own.
The Orphan Master’s Son by Adam Johnson – this is a brilliant book. North Korea fascinates me, it feels like something out of a futuristic, dystopian YA fantasy novel, except that it actually exists, in the now – there are not many places on earth more different to Australia than North Korea.

It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year – What book do you read to get in the Christmas spirit?There’s no specific book that I read, but watching Love Actually always gets me feeling Chritsmassy.

Sleigh Ride: What character would you most want to spend the holiday with?
Hmmm, hello Gale…

Baby It’s Cold Outside: What book do you hate so much you’d sacrifice it to the fire to stay warm?
If you have spent any time reading my blog, you’ll know this is an easy one for me – The Sound and The Fury by William Faulkner would be my kindling of choice. But I also wouldn’t have too much trouble burning In Cold Blood.

Do You Hear What I Hear?: What book would you recommend to everyone?This is TOUGH, because I really like to give tailor-made recommendations for people to avoid disappointments and awkwardness, but I think you’d have to go a long way to find someone who didn’t enjoy, or at least appreciate, To Kill a Mockingbird…so that one.

Oh no! You didn’t like “In Cold Blood”? I thought it was awesome! How come you didn’t like it?
To Kill a Mockingbird is definitely a fantastic book. I learnt my favourite word, “obstreperous”, from that book. And it is a real word, I promise! (I double checked because I thought Scout may have made it up).

I realise there’s probably something wrong with me for not liking In Cold Blood – I just found it SO boring in parts. Some of it was great, but then there was just whole pages of unnecessary words…so many words!
That’s a great word – I’m looking it up right now and I’m going to use it in a sentence today! 😉